Namibia played its first international under the name South-West Africa on 16 May 1989 at home against neighbouring Angola and lost 1–0. On 23 March 1990, only two days after gaining independence from South Africa, they hosted neighbour Zimbabwe and lost 5–1. On 7 June, they lost a home friendly 2–1 to Mauritius. Namibia's next contests were played in Lesotho, where they lost 2–0 to their hosts on 1 August 1992, but gained their first ever draw in a 2–2 tie against the same opposition the very next day. Namibia's first win came on 1 July 1994 in a 1–0 victory away over Botswana in a friendly. On 17 May 1998, Namibia played their first match outside of Africa and against non-African opposition, losing 2–1 in a friendly in France against Saudi Arabia.[4]
Namibia has made four appearances in the African Cup of Nations, winning the cup in 1990,[clarification needed] then going out in the first round in their first three competitions and going out in the Round of 16 in their fourth competition. In 1998, Namibia lost to Ivory Coast 4–3 and drew Angola 3–3 before losing to South Africa 4–1. In 2008, Namibia lost to Morocco 5–1 and to Ghana 1–0 but drew Guinea 1–1 in their last match. In 2019, they lost all their group games scoring only a single goal. They lost to Morocco 1–0, and suffered the same loss to South Africa before losing to Ivory Coast 4–1.[citation needed]
The most capped player of the Brave Warriors is defender Denzil with 83 caps while Daniel Lombe is the all-time top goal scorer with 16 goals. He reached this milestone in a 1–1 draw against Cameroon in the AFCON qualifiers at Yaoundé on 24 March 2023.[5][6]
The following players were called up to the provisional squad for the 2025 AFCON qualification matches against Cameroon and Kenya on 13 and 19 November 2024.[7]
Caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2024, after the match against Kenya.
DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up. INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Player has retired from international football. SUS Suspended from the national team.
